Copper industry faces lack of skilled labour, rising costs

摘要

Declining ore grades, a lack of skilled labour, rising costs and tight supply of sulphuric acid are some of the major challenges that the world copper industry will face for the foreseeable future, according to industry specialists. This is as a result of strong demand for the metal, mainly from Asia, they added. "There have been few discoveries due to the lack of exploration in the past years," Owen Hegarty, ceo and md of Australia's Oxiana, told delegates at the CRU International's World Copper conference.